Welcome back to Rotten Ink. For this update we will be talking about Silent Horror Cinema and to be more specific we are talking about Lost Silent Horror Cinema, those films that have been lost to time due to poor film preservation, studio vault fires and the greed of private collectors. The sad thing is that many film professors and historians think that over 90% of silent films are lost and many of them we have zero clue of what even was made way back when. So to be more direct we have zero clue on what all Silent Horror Films are lost that did not have remaining posters or stills found to prove its existence so it’s crazy to think that their was films made that no one will ever see again, heartbreaking I know. I grew up a Horror Movie fan from a young age I watched Universal Monsters, King Kong, Godzilla and Hammer Horror and was hooked and Horror Hosts like Commander USA, Grampa Munster, USA Up All Night, Saturday Nightmares and Dr. Creep with their shows introduced me to so many films with Commander really being the one to bring Slasher films into my life. Magazines and Books also showed me a world of so much different Horror Films. And the home media like VHS and Beta played a big part in me discovering Silent Horror Films as I would buy them cheap and hurry home to watch and I would find so many of them at a Dollar Tree in Sugarcreek Township in Ohio and that’s how I first saw the likes of Nosferatu, Hunchback Of Notre Dame, The Golem and Phantom Of The Opera to name a few. And for me Silent Horror has always captured my imagination and love for the genre of Horror. And that’s why I feel I need to bring you this list of My Top 20 Lost Silent Horror Films that I want to see!
This list is my personal Top 20 picks of what I would love to see found and I spent so much time going through lists and films that fit in the Horror genre and did research on each film and even followed leads to see if copies are at Film Archives in order to come up with this list, and heck I am sure that many of these if not all of them are and will be on your list as well, as each of these films I choose sound so interesting. So let’s dust off our Silent Horror Film knowledge and get to the theater and talk about these lost gems that we all hope one day are found.
# 22
Wasei Kingu Kongu
Year: 1933 Director: Torajira Saito Country: Japan
Very little is known about this lost short film from Japan that is one of the nation’s first “giant monster” movies. The movie’s plot is suppose to be about a man named Santa who is a loser who does not have a job and makes all his money finding loose change on the streets of Tokyo. When his girlfriend dumps him and starts dating a new man he does find a job at local theaters as he dresses in a gorilla suit and becomes King Kong to advertise for the film’s Japan release. Well, one night while on stage crushing fake miniature buildings he spots his ex and her new man and decides to go on a rampage of his own chasing after her new man and beating him up. The crowd loves it as they think it’s apart of the show and this gets Santa a raise and allows him to earn the respect of his former girlfriend and her father and the two love birds get back together. This sounds like it’s a mish-match of film genres that has part of drama, comedy and a hint of horror and that’s why I have this one so low as I feel its very interesting but it not fully a Horror Flick, but keep in mind it is a part of King Kong cinema history so that’s why it has made it to this list. The film is said to star Isamu Yamaguchi, Yasuko Koizumi and Kotaro Sekiguchi and this silent film is said to be lost forever due to the bombings of World War II, as sadly so many of Japan’s cinema was lost due to this.
# 21
The Ghost Breaker
Year: 1922 Director: Alfred E. Green Country: United States
This Horror Comedy is about Warren Jarvis and his servant friend Rusty Snow escaping a family feud and meeting Maria who owns a her family’s mansion that is haunted by ghosts, and she hires Warren and Rusty to get ride of them! But are the ghosts real or is someone after the gold that is hidden in the mansion? This sounds like it could be a very fun film that mixes in Horror, Mystery and Comedy and starred Wallace Reid as Warren Jarvis, Walter Hiers as Rusty Snow and Lila Lee as Maria Theresa. What makes me want to see this film is I have always been a fan of classic cinema Horror Comedies as they have their own silly nature of classic stage style antics. The one downside to this film but yet sadly was a product of its time is that actor Walter Hiers plays the character Rusty in blackface, and that is not something I enjoy about classic cinema. Also I really would love to know what the ghost effects of this film looked like and I should note that actor Wallace Reid died shortly after the film’s release of withdraws from a drug addiction.
# 20
The Dream Woman
Year: 1914 Director: Alice Guy Country: United States
This short Horror Drama feature is about a man who is plagued by a recurring dream about a woman in black standing over him while he sleeps and trying to stab him. On his travels he gets lost and stays at an inn were he once more thinks he sees the woman, and this causes him great stress and is a mental drain. Finally he meets a woman named Alice and falls in love with her, but she has a dark side, as she is an alcoholic and after a bad fight she threatens to kill her husband while he sleeps…and after separating Alice ends up finding her one time husband and kills him with a knife. The film’s final is said to take place in the spirit world. Or so it’s rumored that this is the full plot of this missing frighten thriller flick. The film starred Fraunie Fraunholz as Francis Raven the man tormented by his dreams and Claire Whitney played The Woman In Black and Alice Warlock the wife and the knife dream killer. The film sounds really interesting and is based on the novel by Wilkie Collins and I like the idea of a dream world knife swinging Woman In Black being a warning to what the future holds for our doomed lead character. Sounds interesting and I have heard that the film was a super short and as well have read that it was way longer then reported. Let’s hope that this film is found and we can see The Woman In Black for ourselves.
# 19
The Haunted Bedroom
Year: 1919 Director: Fred Niblo Country: United States
Betsy Thorne is a news reporter from New York that travels down south to look into the case of a man who has gone missing and worse she finds out that all reporters are banned from the area, and Betsy being quick witted scares a newly hired maid and takes her place at the home to get her story. But while there for two nights she sees a ghastly figure creeping around the chapel as well as the family cemetery! Can Besty and solve the crime of who the figure is, can she find the missing man and will she be able to do so with out alerting the police so she can get her big break news story? Well all signs point to yes but sadly this film is one of the many lost Silent Films from the Horror Genre. This Horror Drama sounds like a mystery film that would both scare as well as even have the viewers on the edge of their seats as the lead character Betsy tried to solve this case. The film starred Enid Bennett as Betsy Thorne as well as actors like Dorcas Matthews, Jack Nelson, Lloyd Hughes and Otto Hoffman. I think this one would be a blast to watch and almost feels like the early prototype of the classic Horror Mystery films that followed and even to a point Scooby-Doo. One can hope that this film is found someday as it seems like a really fun Horror Mystery film.
# 18
Alraune
Year: 1919 Director: Michael Curtiz & Edmund Fritz Country: Hungary
A scientist creates a child from a union between a mandrake root and a woman and the child is very demonic and evil. Not much is known about this film besides a very basic plot and the cast and crew thanks to some surviving posters. Also the release year as been reported as both 1918 and 1919 with many saying they think 1919 is right. This could also be one of the world’s earliest mad scientists films and that makes me really want to see it. Plus I love that it’s a Hungarian Silent Horror Film that has Sci-Fi elements. The film stars Rozsi Szollosi as Alraune as well as other actors like Gyula Gal, Kalman Kormendy and Boske Malatinszky. It makes me wonder just how demonic and evil Alraune is in this lost horror fright flick and if it played more with the Horror or Sci-Fi elements in its production.
# 17
A Son Of Satan
Year: 1924 Director: Oscar Micheaux Country: United States
A man takes a bet to spend a night in a haunted house that is filled with evil spirits and bad visions. The film is called a “Race” film as its cast and crew were all African Americans and of course due to this the film ran into some distribution issues that lead to many states not playing it and also is what lead to the film being lost now. The censorship board attacked the film for scenes that had a man choking his wife to death, a KKK member being killed and sadly they kill a cat on screen! They claimed all these elements and more that included the name of the film would be “offensive to Southern ladies” and so it was quickly shown and buried with sadly no fan fair. The film was said to star many members of Broadway Musicals with names like Aubrey Lyles, Adelaide Hall and F.E. Miller having parts. Other cast members included Andrew S. Bishop, Lawrence Chenault and Edna Morton. This film sounds very interesting and it would be great to see how well they pulled off a Haunted House and how “brutal” these deaths really are that caused all this drama with the film boards back then. Also it would be amazing to see this Race Film that is a major part of Horror History and more important Black Cinema. The reason it’s so low on my list is if the rumors are true of a cat being killed on screen are true, that element turns my stomach as I am a cat owner. But with that said let’s hope that one day this film is found and we are able to see it.
# 16
The First Men In The Moon
Year: 1919 Director: Bruce Gordon Country: United Kingdom
Samson Cavor is an old man inventor who created something called Cavorite and along with a man named Rupert Bedford they travel to the moon thanks to his creation that neutralizing the law of gravity! But things go south when Bedford leaves Cavor on the moon and returns home and steals the old mans invention. But thanks to the left behind old man’s niece Susan and a young engineer named Hogben they find away to talk to her Uncle and Susan turns down Bedford’s advances and marries Hogben and together they show the world the Bedford is a fraud! And Samson himself stays on the moon and lives with the Selenites the alien race that inhabits the moon. This film is based on the H.G. Wells novel of the same name and is even on Brittan’s “75 Most Wanted Films” list, and I would love to see the film as its clearly one of cinemas earliest Sci-Fi films as well as the aliens themselves look so cheesy and cheap that I would love to see them in action. With United Kingdom on the hunt for a copy of this film we can hope that it will be found sooner than later.
# 15
Balaoo The Demon Baboon
Year: 1913 Director: Victorin-Hippolyte Jasset Country: France
Dr. Coriolis has turned an ape almost human by the name of Balaoo the Dr. and his niece Madeleine look after this creature who ends up getting captured in a trap set by the evil poacher named Hubert who ends up using Balaoo to kill off his enemies as well as has him kidnap Madeleine…but can this creature truly be controlled and rampage or will it’s human side make the decision to stop these killings and know right from wrong. This sounds like it could be a very cool film if found as it was based on the story by Phantom Of The Opera writer Gaston Leroux and sadly all he have of this film is about four minutes of footage, posters and some stills. In the film Lucien Bataille played Balaoo and other actors include Camille Bardou, Madeleine Grandjean, Henri Gouget and Josette Andriot. The film sounds like it could have been a early version of Nature Runs Amok Horror and while the look of Balaoo was pretty much done with grease paint this is one film I would love to see in full and lets hope someday the missing footage is found and that we will all be able to see this film in all its glory.
# 14
The Last Moment
Year: 1923 Director: J. Parker Read Jr. Country: USA
Alice Winthrop is a young woman who has two men trying to win her hand and they are Hercules and Harry and the three make the mistake of going to a waterfront saloon and become the kidnapped victims of the sinister Captain Finn that makes them go to his ship and who himself wants Alice as his mistress and if she refuses she will have to be looked into a cage with a half-man and half-beast monster who ends up escaping and kills the crew and Alice, Hercules and Harry have to fight for their life in order to get ashore and away from the monster on the loose. This film starred Doris Kenyon, Henry Hull, Louis Calhem and Jerry Paterson and sadly the film has been lost for many decades now and what we have are the poster as well as some publicity stills and the monster looks amazing! This sounds like a very interesting early Horror Cinema creature feature that would be a great chilling watch if it could every be found, but as of this update no known copies are in any Film Archive. Let’s hope this film is found in a private collection or in an archive pile of films that have not been checked yet…we Horror Fans need to see this classic creature feature!
# 13
The Hunchback And The Dancer
Year: 1920 Director: F.W. Murnau Country: Germany
This film’s plot was about a man named James Wilton who has a massive hunchback who is a foul man who ends up becoming rich after finding a diamond mine in Java and he ends up dating a young dancer names Gina who is heartbroken after a bad breakup. But things get worse for her when she decides to leave James and return to her past boyfriend who dies after kissing her…as James has tainted her with a poison that really gives her the kiss of death. Gina once she figures it out tries to find out a way for James to kiss her as she wants revenge and only his life could pay the debit she feels she’s owned. The film starred John Gottowt as the Hunchback James Wilton and Sascha Gura as Gina. This sounds like an interesting Horror Thriller that would be a blast to see as its some early work of F.W. Murnau and seems like it could deliver some spooky moments. The film also stars actors as Paul Biensfeldt, Bella Polini and Anna Von Palen. Makes me wonder just how creepy this film is and how evil the character James Wilton is and just how Gina figures out how to trick him into kissing her to poison him and get her revenge. Let’s hope that this film is found in some film vault or even a private collection soon.
# 12
The Gorilla
Year: 1927 Director: Alfred Santell Country: United States
A killer wearing a gorilla suit is committing murders and after killing a man his daughter wants to find out who the costumed murder is as she has been blamed for the crime! This Horror film has elements of Crime and Thriller and brings a costume killer to the silver screen and even spawned two remakes one in 1930 and another in 1939! The weird thing about this film is that it also had elements of comedy, as many Horror films did this to bring in a bigger audience and downplay the spooky elements. This film starred Alice Day as Alice Townsend the accused Daughter as well as Charles Murray, Fred Kelsey, Brooks Benedict and Aggie Herring. What makes me want to see this film be found and released so I can see it is that I like the idea of a killer in a massive Gorilla suit causing death and our poor hero having to prove her innocence. But also the deeper you dig into this films history is that many enjoyed the Horror and Mystery aspects of the film…they did not like the silly comedy aspects. Only time will tell if this film will ever be found and how modern Horror Fans will react to this Horror Comedy.
# 11
The Wizard
Year: 1927 Director: Richard Rosson Country: United States
Professor Paul Coriolos is a man with a plan to get revenge on jury members who sent his son to be hung who he thinks was innocent. In his laboratory he creates a creature that he sends out to kill those he blames, and it’s up to Detective Murphy and reporter Stanley Gordon to uncover and stop the killings as the Judge and his daughter are on the hit list! This creature feature sounds like it would be a fun classic creepy watch that also would have had elements of crime thriller. One major thing I would love to see this film for is the Gorilla Monster in action as from the remaining stills of the film he looks great and he was also played by pro wrestler George Kotsonaros who was killed in a car wreck in 1933 when the car he was driven flipped over. The rest of the cast included Gustav von Seyffertitz as the Professor, Perlie Marchall as Murphy and Leila Hyams as Anne the judges daughter. Sadly the last known print of the film went up in flames in 1931when Fox had a bad studio fire. This film for many fans of Silent Horror is considered one of the most sought after to be found, and here is hoping one day it will be.
# 10
Life Without Soul
Year: 1915 Director: Joseph W. Smiley Country: United States
Dr. William Frawley created a Brute Man with a fluid who has a twisted mind and on the night of William’s wedding his creation kills the Bride and escapes into the darkness. As Brute Man travels across Europe his creator Dr. Frawley is hunting him and once he finds his creation he ends its life with a bullet, and then dies himself from exhaustion. This is the second film based on Mary Shelley’s novel Frankenstein and The Monster in this version is very toned down and is just a very strange looking man that was played by actor Percy Standing. I should also say that some people who cover this lost film say that Dr. Frawley killed his creation in the room of his dead wife, that Brute Man dies only after his creator does as well as The Monster was called The Creation and not Brute Man and some reports say that it was a statue given life while others say it was a corpse. Every classic Horror fan loves Frankenstein and I know that I am not the only one who would love to see this version be found so we can see how this one did at bringing the classic horror tale to the silver screen. Plus if Brute Man really was a statue to start with this also kind of has a Golem feel to it and that as well really makes me want to see it! Sadly no clips have survived of this film and only some production stills and ads have.
# 9
The Golem And The Dancing Girl
Year: 1917 Director: Rochus Gliese & Paul Wegener Country: Germany
This film is the second in the Golem trilogy and is also the second one to be lost from the trilogy and is a Horror Comedy that spoofs the original film. The plot for this one is very loose and is pieced together from many sources so we can not 100% be sure that this is really what the film was about. It’s said that in this film actor Paul Wegener plays himself and loves that the character he played The Golem has put fear in the hearts of movie goers and decides to have a little fun as he puts back on the costume and heads to a party in order to charm a young dancer named Helga as well as scare the attendees. This film peeks my interest because I would like to see how The Golem the first monster to have a trilogy of films become a comedy act in one of them. I am not sure how I would feel about this film and that’s why I hope that one day it’s found so I can see it for myself…will it be a great Horror Comedy or would if be a Unfunny mess, lets hope one day this second film in The Golem series is found. Sadly not much remains of this film besides some “Posters” and a promotional shot.
# 8
The Werewolf
Year: 1913 Director: Henry MacRae Country: United States
The Werewolf is a lost film that needs to be found for a number of reasons like it is the first Werewolf film made and the other is it’s the first Universal Monster film made! The film is about a Native American witch who’s daughter as well gets powers and turns into a wolf in order to get revenge on white settlers and does again 100 years after her death. The film is a short one running about 18 minutes and stars the likes of Phyllis Gordon, Clarence Butyon, Marie Walcamp and William Clifford and the last known copy of the film burned up in the Universal Vault fire of 1924 that sadly destroyed so many classic cinema films. I would be really interested in seeing if this silent film had a werewolf transformation scene and if it did would it be cross dissolve effects, happen off screen or would it be make-up? I am a huge fan of werewolf films and this is one I would love to see as it really is considered the first film to showcase that creature, plus its great that this film had a Native America legend to it. Lets hope that one day Universal finds another copy tucked away in a vault or some private collector comes forward with a copy. Only a “poster” remains for this film.
# 7
A Blind Bargain
Year: 1922 Director: Wallace Worsley Country: United States
This sadly is one of many of Lon Chaney Sr. Films that are lost to time due to poor film preservation from the silent era and is one that sounds like it would have been lots of spooky fun to see. Failed writer Robert Sandell is down on his luck and has an ill mother and decides to rob someone and chooses Dr. Lamb, but when the Doctor alerts him that he might be able to help his sick mother, and all Robert has to do is volunteer to help him in his experiments and want to become a published author. But soon Robert finds out that Dr. Lamb is a madman and has ruined many peoples life with failed experiments turning them into mindless monsters and in the end Robert must survive Dr. Lamb as well as his twisted creations. This film sounds amazing and had Lon Chaney Sr. playing two roles as he was Dr. Lamb as well as a hunchback assistant who was made that way because of Lamb. The film was rumored to have gotten a standing ovation at its premiere and the effects used for the experimented people looked fantastic with the Ape Man being the standout for me. Sadly the last prints of this film were lost in a vault fire at MGM in 1965 and lets hope one is found so we can all see this Lon Chaney Sr. Horror film. The film also starred Raymond McKee as Robert Sandell, Wallace Beery as Beast Man and Virginia True Boardman as Mrs. Sandell. Only the poster and some promotional shots remain of this film.
# 6
The Monster Of Frankenstein
Year: 1920 Director: Eugenio Testa Country: Italy
This is a very interesting sounding film as it was one of Italy’s early Horror Films and was made just before that genre was banned from cinema by Mussolini when he raised to power as well is the third film to be based on the Frankenstein story by Marry Shelley! The film also was considered too scary and was censored by many Nation’s as the film would screen in many languages all over the world. The films plot has Dr. Victor Frankenstein creating a life with not soul out of dead body parts and the creatures escapes the lab and goes on a rampage and must be stopped by Victor who confronts his creation in a cave and is forced to destroy it. The film has gone missing after it’s very long run and no print from any Country that showed is knows to have survived and all that we have left is some stills and promotional items. The film starred Luciano Albertini as Victor Frankenstein an actor who sadly ended up in an Asylum in his later years and Umberto Guarracino as The Monster who was not overly made-up like The Monster has been in more modern Frankenstein films. I would love for this film to be found as it being one of Italy’s early horror films as well as the fact it was censored so much due to its scary factor makes this a must. Lets home some day this one is found and is unleashed on viewers once more.
# 5
Das Phantom der Oper
Year: 1916 Director: Ernst Matray Country: Germany
Das Phantom der Oper is a lost German Silent Horror Movie that is the first film to be based on the novel Phantom Of The Opera by Gaston Leroux and is one that I would love to see found as one of my favorite classic movie monsters is The Phantom and I would love to see how this one compares to the more famous 1925 version that starred Lon Chaney Sr. in the role of The Phantom! This early version has very little knows about it but what has been said is that the film is about up and coming singer Christine Day who is being trained by a mysteries man in the shadows known as The Phantom and when Raoul comes into her life The Phantom is now pleased and sets out to force her hand in marriage as well as end the life of her young suitor. It’s said that at the end of this lost film The Phantom is killed when a boiler explodes and he is caught in the blast. The film was not only screened in Germany and the surrounding areas but also the Netherlands and its during these out of country screenings in 1917 is when it’s believed that the film was lost. The film has actress Aud Egede-Nissen as Christine Daae, Ernst Matray as Raoul and Nils Olaf Chrisander as The Phantom! And I am sure you readers as well would love to see how Nils Olaf Chrisander appearance and performance as The Phantom compares to Lon Chaney Sr.’s version. Let’s hope that this Phantom doesn’t stay lost forever.
# 4
The Head Of Janus
Year: 1920 Director: F.W. Murnau Country: Germany
The mastermind of German silent Horror films F.W. Murnau who was known for the films Faust and Nosferatu also had his own version of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde that was called The Head Of Janus, but like with Nosferatu with the novel Dracula by Bram Stocker he did not get permission from Robert Louis Stevenson estate to do the film so many changes was made to the story. The story fallows Dr. Warren a man who bought a statue bust of the Roman god of the doorway Janus as a gift for his lady Jane Lanyon who takes one look at the creepy bust and rejects the gift forcing Dr. Warren to keep it himself. That night the statue turns Dr. Warren into a sinister character that goes by the name Mr. O’Connor and he goes to Jane’s house and kidnaps her and brings her back to the lab, the next morning when he turns back to Dr. Warren he is shocked by his actions and tries to get rid of the statue at an auction and finds himself bidding and buying the statue back showing that it has a hold on him. He once more turns back to Mr. O’Connor and goes and a violent rampage and once the law comes after him the crazed man commits suicide by poison with the curse bust statue in his hands. This sounds like it would be an amazing spooky classic film to see and you know that with F.W. Murnau in the director chair this one would have been a masterpiece. Conrad Veidt who played Cesare in The Cabinet Of Dr. Caligari played Dr. Warren and Mr. O’Connor so again you know that he had to have turned in a very amazing performance! Other actors in the film include Margarete Schlegel, Magnus Stiffer and most amazing is Bela Lugosi who played The Butler! This film needs to be found as I am sure that it will be another Silent Horror Classic that will be in the same prestige as Nosferatu, Hunchback Of Notre Dame, Phantom Of The Opera, Haxan and so many more. Let’s hope that its found in out lifetime and is able to be seen my viewers once more. Sadly all we have is a few promotional material for the film as of this update.
# 3
The Golem
Year: 1915 Director: Henrik Galeen & Paul Wegener Country: Germany
The first film in The Golem trilogy is sadly lost just as the second film is and this one is a film that I would love to be found, in fact I myself have written to film archives all around in order to try and see if a print is locked away in a vault someplace…and sadly at this point besides around 3 minutes of the film nothing has been found. The plot has Troedler an antiques dealer searching an old Jewish temple and finds the clay statue of a Golem that was brought to life by an amulet and helped save Jewish people from persecution, Troedler decides to take the Golem home and use him as a servant but sadly things go wrong when the Golem falls in love with Jessica the dealers daughter and when she does not show back the same affections the Golem goes on a rampage of damage and murder. This sounds like it would have been amazing and when you watch the three minutes of film that was found via YouTube it will really make you want this film to be found as it looks fantastic and super classically spooky. Paul Wegener is one of my favorite Silent Film Horror actors and this being the first in his Golem series makes it a must find and what is crazy so many rumors are around that prints are out in the world in the hands of private collectors who are hording them and not allowing them to be seen by Horror fans, in other words they want to be the only ones with the rare lost films. Let’s hope that one day this film is found or if the rumors are true a private collector lets this film be re-mastered and put back out so the world can see the horror of The Golem once more. The film has some footage and very little promotional material is what we have.
# 2
Dracula’s Death
Year: 1921 Director: Karoly Lajthay Country: Hungary
This lost Dracula film is not like your normal vampire Dracula fright flick as it plays more on mental illness, power of suggestion as well as a nightmarish dream world. The films plot is about a woman who visits an asylum and meets a man who claims to be Dracula and this torments her, as the man also seems to be in her dreams now causing them to become nightmares. The woman cannot take it anymore and escapes the asylum and later in life gets married and starts a new life…but she cannot escape Dracula in her dreams. And the big question is if that inmate is really Dracula or just a mentally disturbed man in the asylum. I think this film sounds fascinating and I for one would love to see if the man in the asylum was really Dracula and if so why has he targeted this young woman as a person to torment with terrible dreams. Many of rumors are going around about the film with most saying it is 100% lost and a few sources claiming a Hungarian Film Archive has a print in their collection and have never shared it. I reached out the film archive to see if I could get answers and as of this update they have never responded. Let’s hope that they do indeed have a print and one day they let the film see the light of the moon for us Silent Horror fans. As of right now we have a poster and production pictures to show us glimpses of this film.
# 1
London After Midnight
Year: 1927 Director: Tod Browning Country: United States
I am sure the # 1 spot is not a surprise as London After Midnight really is the Holy Grail of lost Horror films and is one of the worlds most wanted lost film to be found! Over the years so many rumors have circled around the film being found in private collections from all over the world, some even are saying that Cuba has a print in their archives and I tracked this lead and never got a response from the archive. The plot of this film has a man named Sir Roger Balfour being found dead in his home of what is ruled as a self inflected gunshot wound by Inspector Edward C. Burke who is also an amateur hypnotist! Time passes and the new owners of the house are being haunted by a vampire looking man called The Man In The Beaver Hat and a undead looking woman, and the couple calls in Inspector Edward C. Burke who wants to solve the case as he does not think that Balfour killed himself and wants to use his hypnotist powers on the dead mans family members to find out who killed the man who is now missing from his tomb! And who is The Man In The Beaver Hat and his undead female friend and how do they tie into Inspector Edward C. Burke? This sounds like such a fun film and lets be honest all us horror fans love the look of The Man In The Beaver Hat as Lon Chaney Sr. once more designed such a creepy and awesome looking character as the actor played that role as well as Inspector Edward C. Burke. Other actors in this film included Marceline Day, Edna Tichenor, Claude King and Polly Moran. We do know that films poster, promotional stills, the script as well as some still have survived as the films last print is thought to have burned up in the MGM Vault Fire of 1965 along with so many other silent films. London After Midnight is a film that has some many film buffs and historians looking for a print that I think one day we will all be able to see this film again. The film was remade back in 1935 by director Tod Browning and starred Bela Lugosi in the role of the vampire. And TCM also did a fan reproduction of the film using stills from the film and lots of text cards. Lets hope that London After Midnight as well as every film on this list doesn’t always remain lost films.
Well that’s my list of Lost Silent Horror Films that I hope are found sooner then later and that not only I but all you classic horror fans get to see in our lifetime. And to be fair there is a few more films that could have made it to this list with one being the 1913 film called “The Vampire” from England that is about a Vampire Woman who could turn into a giant snake as well as “Robbing Cleopatra’s Tomb” from 1899 about a man who chops up the body of Cleopatra and by doing so brings her back to life and this one was directed by Georges Melies. And I have not given up my own quest to try and track down these films and will do all I can to try and help bring these lost Horrors back to the silver screen and TV screens the world over, and not to even mention the Silent Film Universe comics that we are doing at Blood Scream Comics to keep these films and characters alive. And over the years this far I have been able to find one “Lost” film in a overseas archive and am working on trying to get the film re-mastered and screened at a local Ohio theater and then get it out on home media…that is if I can get the very large amount needed to do so, but keep your eyes open for details of the film found and if I am able to get it saved. And sorry for not sharing yet I just don’t want to jinx myself with this one and I will say this film is not on this list and is a Silent Horror Comedy film. Well sense this is the Countdown To Halloween 2022 season as well as apart of Rotten Ink’s 10-year anniversary we will be sticking with the Horror theme and will be taking a look at another Anniversary that happened way back in 1998 and I am talking about Halloween H20! So until then read a Horror Comic or three, watch a Silent Horror Film or two and as always support your local Horror Host! See you next update for Michael Myers big 20-Year Anniversary of being one of cinemas biggest horror icons.
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